Preparation

Make stuffing:

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and add fennel, celery, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until fennel and celery are golden and tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a bowl to cool.

Soak raisins in boiling-hot water to cover 5 minutes, then drain well and chop. Add to vegetables.

Rinse matzo in a colander under hot running water until softened, 15 to 30 seconds. Drain, pressing gently on matzo to extract excess water. Add to vegetables along with egg, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir until combined.

Arrange 1 breast half, skinned side down, lengthwise on work surface, with thinner, pointed end nearest you. Starting at top (thicker part), cut breast half lengthwise down middle, but not all the way through to work surface, with a boning knife or a sharp, small knife, stopping about 1 inch from end closest to you. Then, turning knife horizontally, cut turkey breast open on either side like a book jacket, beginning at lengthwise cut, to form 2 flaps. Open flaps, then put butterflied breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

Pound turkey with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin until 1/2 inch thick. Butterfly and flatten remaining breast half.

Stuff and roast turkey:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.

Remove top sheet of plastic wrap from 1 breast half and pat turkey dry. Arrange with a short side nearest you and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mound half of stuffing in center, leaving a 1-inch border on each long side. Fold short end nearest you over stuffing to enclose, gently pressing on filling, then roll to form a cylinder (don't roll too tight, or filling will slip out of ends). Tie rolled turkey breast crosswise at 1-inch intervals with kitchen string. Season remaining turkey breast half with remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, then stuff, roll, and tie in same manner.

Rub fennel oil all over roasts to coat. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy flameproof roasting pan straddled across 2 burners on moderately high heat. Add roasts (position 1 roast over each burner) and sear, turning with tongs, until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes total. Cover pan tightly with foil and roast turkey in oven until a thermometer inserted diagonally 2 inches into center of each roast (to touch stuffing) registers 165°F, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer roasts to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes before slicing.

While roasts stand, straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderately high heat, then add 1 1/2 cups broth and deglaze by boiling, stirring, and scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk together remaining 1/4 cup broth and potato starch and whisk into sauce, then boil, whisking, until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a sauceboat and skim off any fat. Serve turkey with sauce.

SELECT LATEST REVIEWS

Was very reluctant to take on such a seemingly complex dish, but soooo glad I did! I bought a 6-lb. boneless breast at the supermarket, which wound up serving ten people at the Seder, with leftovers (keep in mind everybody asked for seconds and thirds, it was so delicious). I made sure to baste it every fifteen minutes or so, and it took much longer to cook than 40 minutes (I think it was more like 1-1/2 or 2 hours), but the meat was so moist , tender and juicy it didn't even require any gravy, and I'm still getting compliments about it now! I will definitely be making this again (My husband even suggested serving this at Thanksgiving, it's that good!) so a huge THANK YOU to whoever posted this recipe and making me a shining star at my Passover Seder!

A Cook from New York, NY / 04.23.13

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This was quite tasty! If you do get your turkey breast deboned by your butcher, I'm assuming you should probably scale down the weight of the breast you buy? My boyfriend got a 6 lb turkey breast, but it was 6 lbs withOUT the bones, so it was massive and he wore himself out trying to pound it down to half an inch! Granted, dealing with a full-sized turkey breast, rather than cutlets, was a new experience for both of us. I'd still call it a successful experiment!

A Cook from Saint Louis / 05.03.11

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I'm surprised there
aren't more reviews
for this great
recipe. Delicious
and a feast for the
eyes too. Everyone
loved it and agreed
that it should be
our substitute for
beef brisket at our
Passover seder. I
made the recipe as
written, except that
I didn't make the
gravy because I ran
out of time. It did
take a while to
make. Like others, I
found the
butterflying
instructions
difficult to
understand, but I
found a great video
on Martha Stewart's
site in which they
demonstrate the
process. Regardless,
next time I'll get
the butcher to
butterfly the turkey
to save time. I'm in
the habit of
modifying recipes,
but this one is so
good, I'll follow it
again and make the
gravy too.

A Cook from Boston, MA / 04.24.11

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This was the BEST turkey dish I have had. The stuffing was delicious. I had the butcher butterfly and pound the turkey and I did the rest. I cook much longer than called for then let sit uncovered for an hour till dinner and it sliced perfect! Looked just like the picture.

lorianneg from Woodbury, NY / 04.10.09

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Definately a hit visually and taste-wise at the seder table. The butcher did the hard work, boning and butterflying, and I made the stuffing (the fennel stuffing is mild, not to worry) and my husband did the tying and rolling. I'll make this again for entertaining using a regular stuffing. I had never heard of stuffing a turkey breast before and I really loved the drama of this dish. Excellent. It can feed a crowd elegantly.

A Cook from Flemington, NJ / 05.01.05

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This dish was designed as the alternative meat for our annual Easter lamb dinner, but it stole the show. And this dispite my much less than gorgeous wrapping-and-rolling job. The filling, in particular, drew rave reviews. I did add slivered almonds, but that embellishment certainly wasn't crucial to the success of the recipe. Highly recommended (tho butterflying and flattening practice might be prudent before you feature this at a formal dinner).

djpan / 03.28.05

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I'll start by saying that 1)this is delicious and 2)always ask the butcher to bone the breast!
Unfortunately I found the instructions on butterflying to be un-intelligible (even after practicing on several sheets of folded paper). After hoping for the best and finally tying the thing, I prayed that the cooking process would hide my butterflying mistakes. Next time I will ask the butcher to both bone AND butterfly the breast.
All our guests liked this dish very much, the turkey was moist and tender (I only cooked to 155 degrees) and the stuffing was scrumptious- the raisins really added the perfect flavor foil to the savory fennel. We all had second helpings even though there were plenty of alternatives on the table.

A Cook / 04.09.04

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This is a most delicious Passover entrée. The instructions about butterflying, rolling and tying were unclear, but no matter, the results were terrific. It was more than enough for 12 guests who were delighted with it. I substituted regular raisins for the golden in the recipe.

A Cook from Mahwah, NJ / 04.09.04

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I halved the recipe and used anise instead of fennel seed bc I had it. My local Whole Foods almost always has boneless turkey breasts, which I'm sure really helped my preparation time. We thought the tukey was a bit dry (I cooked it to precisely 165, 175 after standing per the instructions). The stuffing, however, was EXCELLENT. By itself, this would be a clear 4 fork make again. I'm definitely going to use it to stuff individual chicken breasts in the future. I didn't think this was much trouble to prepare but that may be because my turkey breast was boned and I was already chopping onions and celery for kugel. I timed it to be done at the start of the Seder and everything else was warming in the oven or otherwise ready to go so the last minute gravy prep was not a problem. Happy Passover!

A Cook from Chicago, IL / 04.05.04

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We wanted a less rich and "full of flavor" alternative to brisket and we got it. THIS MEAT WAS FABULOUS. Was quite a bit of work but worth it. The turkey was moist and flavorful throughout. The recipe was very well written, fairly easy to follow, and provided opportunities to layer flavor in many steps in the preparation process. Here are some subtleties that are essential to the success of this recipe. 1) If you are not butterflying it yourself, make sure your butcher understands how to butterfly and then pound the breast so it is an even,1/2 inch all around and rectangular in shape. 2) Have it wrapped so that it is flat when you take it home.(He rolled mine to fit in the cardboard. Not good.) 3) It is a bit tricky to mound the stuffing and then roll the meat over the mound. 4) Although I stuffed it earlier in the day, there were alot of last minute logistics. 5) The addition of the toasted, ground, fennel seeds for the rub added to the flavor of the meat and the gravy. 6) Watch the temperature carefully. 6) No leftovers. It fed 9 hungry adults. 7) I bit the bullet and bought a heavy duty roaster and then used the two burner method. That was excellent. These 7 points are just minor points. It was a really delicious main course and I can't wait to make it again. (Might also make a good picnic roast.)We all agreed we have a new Passover seder staple now.